Crown Castle International Corp vs Equinix Inc — how do they compare? Crown Castle International Corp trades at $79.87 (market cap $34.50B), while Equinix Inc trades at $1,024.21 (market cap $100.95B). The key difference: Equinix Inc is far larger — about 2.9× Crown Castle International Corp's market cap, and Crown Castle International Corp pays the higher dividend (5.38%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CCI | EQIX | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $34.50B | $100.95B |
Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
52-Week High | $113.91 | $1.12K |
52-Week Low | $74.92 | $726.09 |
Enterprise Value | $64.33B | $121.23B |
Dividend Yield | 5.38% | 1.92% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Crown Castle (CCI) trades at $79.84, up 0.23% on the day, with a bearish technical signal from moving averages. The company reported mixed Q1 2026 earnings, missing EPS estimates, but maintains strong profitability with a 73.82% gross margin. Recent news highlights its pure-play U.S. tower focus and upcoming Q2 2026 earnings call on July 22, 2026.
CCI presents a turnaround opportunity with analyst consensus targeting $97.33, implying 22% upside, but faces risks from high debt levels and volatile earnings. The stock's negative equity and bearish technicals warrant caution despite attractive dividend yield and cost reduction initiatives.
EQIX trades at $1,039.53, down 1.11% on the day, with a bullish technical signal and strong analyst support (74.51% buy ratings). Revenue grew to $9.22B in 2025, with net income reaching $1.35B, though recent quarters showed mixed earnings results. The company benefits from AI infrastructure demand, evidenced by partnerships with Cisco and NVIDIA (Business Wire, 2026-06-17).
Outlook remains positive due to recurring revenue growth and AI tailwinds, but high valuation (P/E 71.89) and negative cash flow (-$1.26B in 2025) pose risks. Debt levels are rising, with debt-to-asset ratio at 47.13% in 2025. The consensus price target of $1,110 suggests upside potential if execution aligns with AI-driven demand.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Crown Castle International owns and leases roughly 40,000 cell towers in the United States. It also owns more than 85,000 route miles of fiber. It leases space on its towers to wireless service providers, which install equipment on the towers to support their wireless networks. The company's fiber is primarily leased by wireless service providers to set up small-cell network infrastructure and by enterprises for their internal connection needs. Crown Castle's towers and fiber are predominantly located in the largest U.S. cities. The company has a very concentrated customer base, with more than 70% of its revenue coming from the big three U.S. mobile carriers. Crown Castle operates as a real estate investment trust.
Read more on CCI →Equinix is a retail provider of data centers, enabling hundreds of enterprise tenants to house their servers and networking equipment in a collocated environment. Tenants can then connect with each other, through cloud service providers and telecom networks. Equinix operates 240 data centers in 66 markets worldwide and owns just less than half of them. The firm has roughly 10,000 customers, including 2,000 networks, that are dispersed over five verticals: Cloud and IT Services, Content Providers, Network and Mobile Services, Financial Services, and Enterprise. About 70% of Equinix's revenue comes from renting space to tenants and related services, and more than 15% comes from connecting customers with each other. Equinix operates as a real estate investment trust.
Read more on EQIX →